Chapter 89 Eighty Nine

Chapter 89 Eighty Nine
IVY POV

My breath caught slightly.

“…What?” I asked, quieter this time.

Ronan’s eyes didn’t move from mine.

“You remember the guy from college,” he said slowly, like he was testing whether I really wanted the truth or just a version I could manage, “who called me a murderer?”

The words hit me… I did remember how I could forget that he ran out of the hall and after that, he broke up with me.

My fingers loosened slightly at my sides without me realizing.

“That was years ago,” I said, automatically. Defensive without meaning to be. “I thought those were rumours from a guy who was acting crazy.”

Ronan let out a short, humorless breath.

“Yeah,” he said. “He is crazy .”

The silence that followed was heavy.

I swallowed.

“What did he say last night?” I asked, though part of me already didn’t want to hear it.

He didn’t answer immediately.

That alone made my stomach tighten.

“Come on,” I pressed, softer but urgent now. “For fuck’s sake, tell me the truth this time. You’re risking everything for this. Your career is on the line.”

His jaw flexed.

Still nothing.

My heart started to beat harder, uneven.

I stepped closer without realizing it.

“Did you…?” I stopped. My voice caught. I hated that it did.

His eyes lifted to mine.

“Did you kill someone?” I asked.

The words sat between us like something alive.

For a second, he didn’t move.

Didn’t blink.

Didn’t breathe.

Then—

“No,” he said quietly.

Relief should’ve hit me immediately.

It didn’t.

Because his face didn’t soften.

If anything, it tightened further.

“But,” he added after a beat, voice lower now, “I was part of why she died.”

My chest went cold.

“What?” I whispered.

Ronan looked away, dragging a hand through his hair.

“I. Shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “It was stupid. College bullshit. A bet.”

My stomach dropped.

“A bet?” I repeated.

He gave a short, bitter laugh.

“Yeah,” he said. “Some of the guys thought it was funny. There was this girl Hanna who wouldn’t sleep with anyone, wouldn’t even entertain it. And they turned it into a game.”

My throat tightened.

“And you joined in,” I said flatly.

His silence answered before he did.

“I didn’t think it would end up bad,” he said quickly, like he hated how it sounded even as he said it. “I thought it was just dumb talk. Ego. boys' games .”

My hands curled slowly into fists.

Ronan kept going anyway.

“I got close to her,” he said. “She trusted me. And we had sex and I… ” He stopped for a second, jaw tightening hard. “I recorded her. Without her knowing.”

The room tilted slightly.

I went still.

“What?,” I said immediately, sharp. “You did a sex tape without her knowing?”

“I know,” he cut in, voice breaking just slightly at the edges now. “I know what it is. I know I messed up.”

My breathing turned uneven.

“And then?” I forced out.

Ronan’s eyes lifted again, darker now, heavier.

“One of the guys got hold of it,” he said. “And before I knew it… It spread. Fast. Everywhere. Campus. Phones. Group chats. People she trusted saw it.”

My chest felt like it was collapsing.

“And she found out,” he continued quietly. “And she couldn’t handle it.”

The silence after that was unbearable.

I shook my head once, as I could physically reject what I was hearing.

“You’re telling me,” I said slowly, voice shaking despite my effort to control it, “that you recorded her… and it got leaked… and she—”

“She took her own life,” he finished, voice flat now. Empty in a way that was worse than emotion.

For a second, I couldn’t move.

Couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe properly.

Anger burned inside me deeply… how could he do that? I couldn’t believe the man I loved was this disgusting..

I took a step back. Then another.

Ronan watched me, but didn’t reach for me.

Didn’t stop me.

I looked at him like I was seeing him for the first time.

Like every version of him I had ever touched, kissed, trusted, argued with… had just been pulled apart and reassembled into this animal in front of me

My voice came out low.

“You don’t get to sit there and tell me you made a mistake,” I said, each word shaking now, “because of you someone lost their life.!”

“I’m not excusing it,” he said immediately, standing up and stepping forward slightly.

“Don’t you dare come close to me,” I snapped.

He stopped.

My hands were trembling now, but I didn’t care.

“You made a bet,” I said, disbelief rising into anger fast. “You humiliated her. You recorded her without consent. And it spread until she—”